Loads for muzzleloading rifles...

[Andy54Hawken]

I'm digging the idea of Number 4 buck shot...and 60-65 grains of black powder...
Maybe a shot cup ( for those that feel they have to use 'em ) ...or not ( my preference )
So powder , over powder card ( maybe if your gun "likes" them ) , shot cushion , shot , over shot card...

Most of my shooting is done historically correct...so
I like to use old blanket wads for shot cushions and the like...
I also tend use a "looser" loading that more modern folks...
So I may not be much more of help here....
Andy

 

[Daddyd1]

Just for S&G's, next time you go out, hand your buddy YOUR shotgun and have HIM load it with HIS components and see what happens. The looser wad fit statement raises some questions. If he's tearing up a standard paper plate at 40 yds his load is doing way better than most modern shotguns at that distance.

We have done that before, he didn't shoot my gun any better than I did, I've got a T/C New Englander 12ga. with a screw in kicks high flyer choke tube at 40 yards I can tear a paper plate up, it shoots better than my Remington 870, I shoot 90 gr. 777 with knight 3 inch shot cup, I measure 90 gr.shot #5, with over the shot card and I can't get it to shoot buckshot good either, it's a good squirrel and Turkey gun

 

[Roundball58]

Then I guess we're back to trying 60 gr powder and #4 Buck. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Just for S&G's, next time you go out, hand your buddy YOUR shotgun and have HIM load it with HIS components and see what happens. The looser wad fit statement raises some questions. If he's tearing up a standard paper plate at 40 yds his load is doing way better than most modern shotguns at that distance.

That is sage advice right there!

 

[Daddyd1]

That is sage advice right there!

I will definitely try it sounds like a good load, thanks for everyone's help!!!

 

[Cottonwood]

Getting in this post late... for range and club shoots I use 50 gr of FFFg in my .54... got lots of Elephant BP that I bought into from an old dealer at $8 a pound.

 

[sikhed]

New to the 54.
Got a T/C White Mountain the other day. Shot fine, but noticed my .010" lubed patches were frayed. Not burned, but frayed at the edges.
It was about 20 f outside, and the lubed patches were frozen.
Gotta use .010 patches as they were tight starting with the swaged 530 balls I got.
Load was 70gr. Swiss 2f.
No lead smeared in the barrel.
Normal and ok?
Or maybe the patches are old, rotten and frozen?
Couldn't really test for accuracy as it was cold and blowing snow.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

@sikhed
Patches look fine to me...
Sometimes they end up frayed after loading .
Andy

 

[BillM]

Great advise as usual Andy, and it definitely deserves to be sticky. Always
a treat when you share your wisdom and knowledge of the holy black.

But----- 50 minus 10% is 45.

"
If you use 3F for a large caliber rifle ( .50 and above ) back off my load advice by 10%...
This means in plain English : I usually suggest a starting load of 50 grains of 2F for a .50 caliber rifle...So if you use 3F , start with 40 grains.."

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Great advise as usual Andy, and it definitely deserves to be sticky. Always
a treat when you share your wisdom and knowledge of the holy black.

But----- 50 minus 10% is 45.

"
If you use 3F for a large caliber rifle ( .50 and above ) back off my load advice by 10%...
This means in plain English : I usually suggest a starting load of 50 grains of 2F for a .50 caliber rifle...So if you use 3F , start with 40 grains.."

Thank you for your kind words...and good catch.
Good thing I don't teach math...
I'll edit my original post.
Andy

 

[Ura-Ki]

Cloth patches don't usually burn up like paper do, so that's not abnormal at all.
You got just about the right patch and ball combo, so now it's down to working up the charge to suit your needs! Mind you, Swiss tends to run hotter/faster, so back it down a touch, and work up to YOUR max slowly!

 

[sikhed]

Cloth patches don't usually burn up like paper do, so that's not abnormal at all.































You got just about the right patch and ball combo, so now it's down to working up the charge to suit your needs! Mind you, Swiss tends to run hotter/faster, so back it down a touch, and work up to YOUR max slowly










































Yeah, just got the thing, had a day off, and couldn't contain myself.

 

[Howard1955]

Thanks for the thread, Andy. Lots of good information here.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Thanks for the thread, Andy. Lots of good information here.

Thank you Howard.
I try not to be just a "flash in the pan"....
Andy

 

[drstrangelove]

I really like a spritz of moose milk for my ball patches… don't like my blackened fingers touching patches going into my mouth. Yuck.

I also run 2F 70gr for 50cal and 60gr for 45cal balls. There's no harm in priming with 2-3gr 4F… makes for the least ignition delay with my Kibler..

i also shoot a SxS ML 12ga… old browned ultralight Pedersoli, fixed chokes are 13-14ga constriction, making lubed felt wonder wads a far easier choice than card-wads… 2 above powder and one above shot. I use a leather shotsnake with #5 bismuth for a 1 1/8oz pour and 70gr 2F. Right barrel good to 20yds, left to 35yds . For pointed pheasant, it works…. Not DRT like hevishot, but my dog is VERY good at nabbing crippled runners

 

[Mark W.]

This made my head hurt. I have a .50 cal with a Green Mountain target barrel 1-72 twist and 34" long I have been shooting 70 grains of 3F for everything for 40 years in it. It has fixed sights. I use Kentucky windage for any needed adjustments. I try to remove as many variables as possible. In my prime I could hit a small Styrofoam coffee cup standing at 125 yards on trail walks dressed in leathers. The same load that worked to hit a 200 yard gong on a trail walk would take a Blacktail at 100 yards With the very deep rifling in my barrel.

I run a .490" round ball and a .020" x 1.125" D canvas patch pre soaked in some variety of Moose milk RWS #11 cap.

I keep my patches in a plastic film can with just enough lube juice that if I push down on the stack of patches I can get a little free juice to come on top.

I found that after a fouling shot using this combo I could shoot a 20-25 position trail walk without having to swab out my barrel until done. This will not work with a shallow rifling barrel like a CVA or TC barrel.


I have found my barrels sweet spot and I stick with it.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

This made my head hurt.

What made your head hurt...?

My suggested loads in the OP...?
They are pretty simple :
Start with whatever caliber your rifle is....you will probably find that your rifle works best with a charge that is 20 or 30 grains higher than your rifle's caliber.
So its about the same as your loading for your .50 caliber rifle :
50 + 20 = 70 ....50+30 = 80

Also....
The OP was meant as a starting point for a beginner....not for someone who has been at it for awhile.

I am asking not to be snarky...but to be clear...
Since I usually give the same advice to new shooters...and no one has said that their head hurt afterwards....
Andy

 

[Mark W.]

What made your head hurt...?


Andy

All the math stuff. Not so much your post Andy as the one Johnny Tremain posted. And the comment was tongue in cheeky

 

[Andy54Hawken]

All the math stuff. Not so much your post Andy as the one Johnny Tremain posted. And the comment was tongue in cheeky

I hear ya on all that math stuff.....
I'm sure Boone...Crockett and Carson never bothered their heads about some Davenport Formula....
To tell the truth...I ain't never heard of it ...till I read it here....
Andy

 

[BlackPowderDad]

For my .58 cal smoke pole I shoot a .562 home cast round ball, with a 0.015 patch lubed with bore butter, pushed by 60 grains of FFFg Pyrodex.

20 yard group, off hand.